Chapter 2.10: The History of Lunar Light

Of all the places Briar can be after almost being blinded last night… it’s the library.

She breathes in the musty smell of many old books and closes her eyes. The beam of burningly bright light, printed against a starry night sky, flashes across her eyelids. Even in Briar’s memory, the light packs a punch. Yes, it had shut down after a few seconds, but in that one moment Briar had felt how powerful the machine was. Obviously, Ash hasn’t finished it, but when it is… whoever the hell he is working for will have something of very high power in their hands.

She hesitantly finds a place to sit down, having never been in the library despite living in Sunset Valley for twenty years. There is a free chair near a cranky old computer, which is unfortunately being occupied. She decides to take out her notebook and start jotting down a few notes. Tapping her pencil on her leg, Briar tries to remember last night’s overheard conversation. Lunar. Phases. Not aligned. Full moon. Power not enough… what was Ash and Xander arguing about?

Lunar, full moon. Obviously the machine has something to do with the moon. She chews over Ash’s broken words. Maybe… the light wanes and grows in power according to the phases of the moon. And the mention of a full moon makes her think of supernaturals. But what does the machine do? A bit lost, Briar decides to browse through the books to find anything helpful.

A Journey to the Moon. Nope, that’s just something for nerdy astronauts. A Study of Lunacy. A thin paperback about mental asylums and insanity, sounds very shallow-minded. Midnight. Breaking Dusk. Ew no, just a series of stupid vampire romance novels. The History of Lunar Light.

Interested, Briar slides a small book with a green velvet cover off the shelf and turns it over. Peeling letters printed in gold spell out TheHistory of Lunar Light: Supernaturals in Moonlight Falls. Despite the word ‘history’, which sounds like a bore, this may just be the right book she is looking for. Briar goes off to find a more comfortable seat, because this probably going to be a long read.

That’s when she sees a guy with gauzy golden wings sparkling at his back. A fairy. Wow. Very manly, Briar finds herself giggling inside her mind. The man waves at her and she returns it with a small smile. Does this fairy know she can see his wings?

She settles into a squashy red armchair and opens the book. The spine is quite stiff- it hasn’t been read in years. No surprise there. The sims in Sunset Valley seem to be rigid unbelievers in the supernatural. Briar flips to the first page and begins reading.

The town of Moonlight Falls is a sleepy little town full of misty waterfalls, dark wild forests, hidden in the shadow of snowy mountains. It is located several hundred miles north from the nearest city of Sim Nation, Bridgeport and another fifty from the small town of Midnight Hollow. As a result, it is very isolated and quiet and there are seldom visitors to the town. This may be the reason why Moonlight Falls is fabled to be a town full of supernaturals.

Moonlight Falls was founded centuries ago by either one of these families: the Van Goulds, a reclusive clan only ever seen in the night, and the Wolffs, high spirited and whom are strangely affected by the full moon. The town is also populated with strange folk; rumours of fae, lycanthrope, the children of the night, wizards, zombies, and an abnormal amount of ghosts…

The book goes on to describe encounters with the various types of supernatural and what they look like. Briar skips those chapters. She already knows all about that, boring. She keeps on flicking through the yellowed pages until she sees the words Humans in Moonlight Falls heading one chapter. Perking up, she runs her finger down the page.

As much as Moonlight Falls is of the mysterious supernatural, there has been a significant population of humans as well. Small families searching for a new life or the supernatural-seekers have moved there and reported to be able to see the supernaturals. This is unknown among the rest of Sim Nation, in which only a few Sims have claimed to there be magic folk living amongst them. Why this is so was researched by a scientist by the last name of Grimm. His findings conclude that the reason is because of a little known phenomenon called lunar light.

As Dr. Grimm claims, lunar light is not on the visible spectrum and can only be seen by the supernaturals themselves. It is, in fact, what seems to create supernaturals itself- it is what the full moon induces upon Moonlight Falls. This light is said to exist everywhere, however in Moonlight Falls it is extraordinarily strong, hence why there are so many magic folk, and so many human inhabitants of the town whom are aware of the supernatural’s existence.

However, shortly after his attempt to announce his discoveries, Dr. Grimm was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He insisted to the doctors that he does not have a mental illness, instead that his brain has the ability to detect lunar light. Dr. Grimm was meet with disbelief and so was labelled as insane-

Briar stands up suddenly. So this is why she is the only one who can see supernaturals.

She issues the book in a daze and wanders out into a fresh rosy evening, lost in a storm of thoughts. All her life, she had been called insane and considered weird because of her schizophrenia. But this book has finally shown Briar the truth. Nothing is wrong with her- just that her brain can pick up a light wave outside the visible spectrum, like how some people can see ultraviolet.

As she pedals back to her house, Briar realises that today is full moon. The way it glides through the sky, big and luminous, sends a shiver down her back. It’s not helped by the faint howls beginning to sound from the mountains.

It’s a relief when she reaches the relative safety of her garden. She does take a moment to look up at the moon, which is shining with that weird bluish light. It’s lunar light, Briar finally realises. No one else but other supernaturals see it. It must be nice for all the normal Sims to experience full moon as any other zombie-free day.

She enters the house, carefully locking the door. No telling if zombies are smart enough to pick locks. Just after doing that, a violent blue-green light on the patio announces the arrival of a zombie. Her little sister walks down the stairs, completely oblivious of the faint moan of ‘brains’ coming in from outside. Oh, and of course, her bloodsucker friend Clayton Alto is here as well.

Clayton gives her an unsettling look with those glowing amber eyes before greeting Isla. “It’s great we finished our project today. Thanks for coming over and helping us finish so fast!” Her little sister says sweetly, but with a trace of glumness behind her voice. Clayton smiles at her. “No problem. I’m happy that we got chosen for partners… might we hang out in the future again?”

A passing Fern has to cover her smile and rush away, making Briar roll her eyes. Obviously her mother is having one of her silly my kids are growing up so fast moments. She can’t ever imagine thinking like that, more like YES my kids are finally leaving I get the house to myself now! If she even ever has kids, that is. *shudder*

“So… um… do you want to come with me to a party tonight?” Isla blurts out, then blushes bright red. “What party?” Briar says absentmindedly. The two teenagers look around, apparently just realising that she is there. “Max’s, of course! You got the invite too, remember?” Her little sister giggles. Oh, that’s right; Max is throwing a party at the Oliver villa to celebrate his older brother Will’s official recognition as a Sports Legend.

They drive to to the party in Clayton’s car, at his insistence. “Aren’t you too young to drive?” Briar points out from the front seat. “Nope, I’m 17.” He replies, cruising along the quiet road with easy grace. He’s very good for that early age.

The party is in full swing by the time they arrive. Guests dance in the patio, nibble on barbecued steak, sausages and onions, and take a dip in the pool. Briar slips in amongst them, happily chatting with Max while keeping an eye on her sister and her ‘friend’.

She notices when Clayton goes outside, he doesn’t come in for a while. Curious, she pokes her head out of the front door, and finds him standing quite still and staring into the sky.

“Hey, you okay?” Briar calls out. He doesn’t reply, instead just staring up into the moon. The full moon. Maybe since Clayton’s a vampire, he’s affected somehow. It makes Briar nervous. Will he suddenly go on a hunting rampage or something? She edges towards him carefully, interested to see what is enrapturing him so much.

“It’s strong tonight.” “Sorry?” “The light is strong tonight.” Clayton repeats in a dazed and robotic voice, which is rather unlike him and makes Briar uneasy.

Briar looks at what he’s looking at and understands. The moonlight -or lunar light, as she should say- has a strange intensity that pulls at her gut. It’s stronger than usual, and it further increases the sense of anxiety that is swirling inside her. Something unnatural is causing this, and Briar bets it has something to do with her brother’s mystery machine.

She leaves Clayton still staring vacantly into the stars and jumps into the car, as Fern had arrived a bit later to give her congratulations. As Briar drives up the winding road into the hills, a sense of foreboding overcomes her. A beam of light, similar to the one she had seen before, is shooting into the sky every few seconds from behind the science lab.

She parks hurriedly and hops out, not caring that she is still in her bikini. The flashes of light seem to shoot directly towards the moon, and with every ray, the light seems to intensify. Briar gets the feeling that something bad will happen if this keeps on going. She can already sense a weird buzz in the cool night air. Antsy, she rushes towards the wall on the idea to see what the operators are thinking.

But before she gets there, the light ray clicks on again, and this time it does not fade off. A few seconds later, there’s a massive crack and a shockwaves revebrates through the air, leaving Briar lightheaded. It’s enough to set the trees around her vibrating and her ears to pop. The machine has changed something drastically to Sunset Valley.

Whatever that machine is… whatever it has done… Briar now knows it is at it’s full power.

***

So… circular plot. Lol. Sorry this chapter sucked, I got bored halfway through and couldn’t think of what to write, so I’m a bit ahead in the game and I want to get into the next chapters quickly. Hopefully it answered some questions and made some others! Also I used some writing from The Sims Wiki about Moonlight Falls, because I was stuck- just clearing the air~

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15 thoughts on “Chapter 2.10: The History of Lunar Light”

Has Briar got abs?
Ok sorry it’s just kinda weird. I wonder what’s going to happen afterwards?
Just joking. I already know. Oh it was so boring listening to you blabbering on about the plot for a full half an hour. Dude I’ve already read the plot before!!! No need to listen to it again!
But it was a nice chapter. Short, but nice.
I know right, I’m such a meanie. But I’ve got my exceptions. I’m your little sister after all.

Yay I’m glad Briar finally figured out why she can see supernaturals! And that she’s not crazy… Moonlight falls has an interesting history. And aaaggghhhh I really want to know what that machine does!! That ending… A real cliffhanger lol. I hope it changed the town for good and not for bad Nice chapter, I can’t wait for more!

Yes! It makes my day when I check WordPress and there’s a new post to this legacy! 😊
Briar needs to jump in there and shut that machine off! She’s on the police force, she’s gotta have some kick butt skills lol. I’m glad she finally found out why she can see supernaturals, but now I’m super curious to see what this lunar light does! Maybe it will create more supernaturals or make the existing ones go crazy? Idk! But I’m excited to find out. 😁

Haha I’m glad you feel that way! I’ve got another chapter with pictures ready and waiting for me to write on, that should be posted today or tomorrow 😊
Yeah, wish I had the martial arts skill from World Adventures so we can see her totally be awesome at fighting! We should see a lot of action in 2.14 though!

Yay! This chapter was mysterious and creepy and good! I am very excited for the next chapters! Also, I often forget that Briar is on the police force because her work is hardly mentioned. But anyway, good job and book excerpt bit was pro. ‘Midnight, Breaking Dusk’ ha nice one xD

Yeah I often forget she works in the police. She earned two promotions in two days so she is now a traffic cop, which means she will be able to beat up a robber if they decide to burgle her house! Hopefully she wins if that happens because sometimes the robber wins and they run away 😑 It will only be later in the generation when it’s obvious she works in the police since currently she’s on her own little investigation!
I was looking for synonyms for eclipse and new moon but I decided on just those. In the Moonlight Falls world there are actually Twilight references with a Chester and Bailey Swain, and a La Push Beach! It’s awesome when I find Easter eggs like this 🐶

It made me chuckle thinking of Briar reading ‘A Study of Lunacy’and musing over how she has all the symptoms. I wonder what she’d do. Will she just go, “Good read.”? Or will she somehow turn this legacy into an asylum challenge? Whew… my mind went off into quite a tangent there.

OMG! Only she can see the supernaturals coz she’s insane?! Hahaha… Nice twist! I so love it! And the full moon triggering the supernaturalness of creatures is also a pretty neat idea.

This chapter sucked? What are you talking about? O_O Twas a good one. Though I totally get the feeling of getting bored while writing a chapter and kind of just meandering away. Still, I’m intrigued.

Loved the supernatural background of the town bit and the explanation as to why Briar is the only one who can see them. The question is what does everyone’s least favorite person i.e Xander have to gain from this invention, hmmm I expect an epic confrontation soon

I didn’t have much time but I snuck on to get through another chapter! Man the moon does have a strong pull, doesn’t it!
Clayton is an interesting young fellow. I love the twist on Briar being able to see them! That was very creative and a good way to explain their sudden appearance.
Also just thought you should know that as “bad” as you may feel these early chapters are – they’re really quite good! It reminds me a bit of my own writing. There are some points I look back on and say “oh my god I can’t believe I thought that made sense” and it’s actually mostly fine, but as writers we tend to see our improvements far easier than those who read from us.
So you know, I’m hoping this gives you a boost that you have nothing to be ashamed of in these earlier chapters. They’re a great read and I’m really enjoying taking it slow to bask in it. 😀